The Art Gallery
by Don'tCallMeStraightOrCis
Summary: Percy has had enough of listening to his friend Rachel, a raging lesbian, complain about being single, and so decide to secretly set her up with an ex of his, Reyna Avila Ramirez Arellano. They meet up at an art gallery, both girls unsuspecting, and it goes as well as you think it would.


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Sounds perfectWahhhh, I don't wanna

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Percy had finally had enough.

After a whole month of listening Rachel complain about how annoying it was to be surrounded by all these couples, he had finally had enough. He was going to find Rachel a date even if it killed him and if it did kill him, at least he'd finally have some peace and quiet he mused.

The only question was, who to choose?

Any single guys that Percy knew were immediately wiped off the table because of Rachel being a raging lesbian, and the single girls that Percy knew were all straight, which didn't help things. He wondered if it'd be a bit rude to ask Nico if he knew anyone, and decided that if anyone was going to take that question in a bad way, it'd be Nico, so that was out of the question.

But thinking of Nico had given him an idea.

Maybe he could subtly stalk Nico's Instagram and look at some of the friends he had. Surely, if he was friends with any lesbians there'd be some pictures of them together at pride… well, he hoped that would be the case anyway. He knew that Nico never stayed at Pride for more than half an hour, because he found it a bit too overwhelming, but it was worth a shot.

As if by fate, a picture immediately showed up of Nico at pride with his arm around a tall and beautiful girl who was happily wearing a shirt in the colours of the lesbian flag.

Percy was surprised to find that the girl was his ex, Reyna Avila Ramirez Arellano. Huh, he thought, I seem to have a talent for making girls realise that they don't like guys. First Rachel, then Calypso and now Reyna He didn't bother to take it to heart though, he was just happy that he seemed to be doing good… and that this made things oh so much easier.

He still had Reyna's number after all, so he could easily contact her and ask if she'd like to meet up. He could say it's just to catch up and invite Rachel along… and then sneak out after some time.

This thought process was interrupted by Annabeth leaning over him, her hair completely covering the screen on his phone.

"What are you planning Percy?"

"Nothing?"

She gave him a look, and he knew that there was no point in lying.

"Okay, I'm trying to set up Rachel with an ex of mine."

"Another one of your exes turned out to be gay?"

"Yeah."

"Wow," she chuckled, "Anyway, who's the ex?"

"Reyna."

A grin grew on Annabeth's face and her eyes lit up. Uh oh, thought Percy, now she's the one with a plan. And Annabeth's plans are the ones that always get us into trouble.

"I have an idea of where you can take them," she said.

"…Okay."

"You don't say exactly enthusiastic."

"I'm not saying anything until you tell me where you think should take them."

Annabeth rolled her eyes at him and plopped down on the couch next to him. She still believe that people thought he was the troublemaker out of the two of them, had they never met him? He once locked himself in his room for two days straight to avoid being pulled into one of her plans!

"That new art gallery that Rachel had been talking non-stop about."

Percy breathed out a sigh of relief, glad that Annabeth's thought had been PG and legal. He was sure that Annabeth wouldn't actually pick a place that was neither PG nor legal, but he thought it was better to be safe than sorry.

"Oh yeah, that sounds good."

"That's because it is," she answered with a grin, "Rachel will most definitely associate her good feeling about the art gallery with Reyna when they meet, and will be more likely to want to start a relationship with her."

"…Since when have you known shit about psychology."

"Since Malcom was reading out his notes to me for revision last Tuesday. Anyway, you better buy those tickets now, just in case."

So he did.

"Done," he told her, "Now I just need to figure out what exactly to say to Reyna."

"How about 'I know we haven't talked in a while, but I'd really like to meet up if you got some time and catch up'?"

"Great! Now say that to the phone."

He was glad this new phone of his had a speech to text function, it made texting so much easier. Although he did have a slight issue with it.

"Why me?" Annabeth asked.

"It thinks I have a lisp so it sometimes writes the wrong word out."

"…You do kind of have a lisp."

"Shut up."

He playfully elbowed her in the side and she laughed loudly before repeating the message to the phone. After that, all there was to do was send the message and wait. Thankfully, Reyna didn't take too long to reply.

 _That'd be nice. When are you free?_  
\- Reyna

He told her the time and place she'd need to meet him, and then went onto to Rachel. He decided to phone her though, and after a hard look from Annabeth, put it on loud speaker.

"Hey Rachel," he said once she'd finally picked up.

"What's the occasion?" Rachel asked playfully. "You don't usually ring."

"I got us tickets to go see that new art gallery you-"

He was cut off by her loud cheering. Annabeth gave him a thumbs up, and they both smiled at each other. This was definitely going well.

"Oh my god, seriously?! Percy, you're the best!"

I hope I get that same reaction once you realise who else is going to be there, he thought.

After a lot more thanks yous and squeals from Rachel, he eventually managed to put down the phone. Annabeth was still grinning widely, and looked ready to start planning their wedding.

"This is going to be amazing," she said.

"I hope it is…"

Now he had one full day to panic before he could see whether or not he had done a good thing. He hoped it was a good thing at least, he'd hate to make either of them uncomfortable. He leaned back and groaned.

He hoped the fates were feeling exceptionally nice and would look down on him kindly. He really needed the support.

***  
The dress code was formal for the night, and thankfully Rachel's dad was willing to buy Percy a suit as long as he kept an eye on Rachel and made sure she didn't cause too much trouble. Percy didn't bother to say that nothing on earth could hold Rachel back from doing what she wanted, especially not him.

While he wasn't wild on the idea of having to wear a suit, the idea of both girls having to wear especially nice clothes sounded promising. He knew Rachel was going to ditch the dress that was going forced upon her when she was dropped off at her house and instead wear a suit, and he had heard Reyna comment once that she thought girls in suit were very nice looking…

He shook his head and finished getting dressed, except for the bow tie which he couldn't get on for the life of him. Thankfully Paul knew how to do it.

"So you're going to try and set up tow of your exes?" Paul asked.

In the background, Sally laughed and shook her head, but silently thought that Percy's idea was actually quite good. She had met Reyna before, and thought that it'd be nice for her to be with something who'd bring her out of her bubble a bit.

"Yeah."

"Good luck with that."

"Thanks dad," Percy said in a deadpan tone.

Paul just grinned as he finished off the bowtie. "You're welcome."

At that moment, the bell rang and in came an angry looking Rachel wearing an exceptionally fancy green dress that did not suit her at all.

"Ugh, I hate him," she groaned, "Look what he made me wear! I look like the fucking Grinch!"

"Rachel, language," Paul chided her.

She winced. She kept forgetting that Percy had a little, innocent sibling now that she couldn't swear in front of her.

"Sorry… mind if I get changed?"

"Sure thing," Percy shrugged.

With a small smile, she shuffled up in the stairs and began getting changed. Oh boy, thought Percy, this is going to be one hell of an experience. Hopefully it'd be a good one.

She came down a while later, looking much happier and comfortable in a black suit. Percy couldn't help but smirk, knowing that Reyna would definitely appreciate that.

"How do I look?" Rachel asked.

"Stunning, fabulous, great, now let's go."

"What's got you in a hurry? It doesn't open for another ten minutes," she reminded him.

He just said goodbye to his parents and walked out to the car, followed by a very confused Rachel. Percy was never one to really worry about timings, so she couldn't understand why he suddenly cared. Perhaps he just wanted to beat the crowds, she thought, yeah, that's probably it.

He started driving, putting on some of Rachel's favourite music for the ride. It wouldn't hurt to give her more good things to associate her meeting with Reyna with after all.

She couldn't help but press his face up against the glass as the gallery came into view, already planning their journey in her mind. She hoped they didn't bother with tour guides, she wasn't in the mood for getting told off for wandering about on her own and she was certain Percy wouldn't appreciate it either.

"It looks amazing."

"We're not even inside yet," he commented with a laugh.

"It still looks great. It's got that whole 'badass Roman temple' look, and you can't ever go wrong with that."

Percy offhandedly thought about how Reyna loved learning about Roma mythology as he parked the car. Yep, he decided, this is going to be good.

They got out of the car and he began searching for Reyna, which wasn't too difficult. She was a person that was impossible to miss in the long purple dress of hers, taller than a lot of the crowd in her high heels, looking immaculate.

He caught her eye, and began walking over to her.

"Hey, nice to see you," he said a bit awkwardly.

She tried to smile and nodded.

"Nice to see you too."

Rachel, who had been following behind him feeling very confused, finally stopped beside him and frowned.

"Who are you talking to?"

"Okay, don't hate me for this, but I kind of invited a… old friend of mine along. Rachel, meet Reyna Avila Ramirez Arellano. Reyna, meet one of my best friends, Rachel Elizabeth Dare."

The two finally made eye contact and for them, the world seemed to pause for a second. Their heart beat fast, and neither wanted to look away.

From the outside, it literally looked like a scene from a Disney film. Percy grinned and sighed in relief; definitely a good idea. Unfortunately, he'd have to interrupt so they could actually go in since the doors had just opened. He didn't pay all that money just for them to spend the whole evening outside of the art gallery after all.

"Guys, are we going in?" Percy asked.

The two girls suddenly came back to reality, and looked away awkwardly.

"Uh, yeah, sounds good," Rachel answered with a cough and red cheeks.

Reyna nodded, sneaking another look at Rachel before quickly walking inside. Percy and Rachel followed her, and for a second, Rachel was distracted by the art. Now, Percy thought, if only she could get distracted by Reyna and vice versa. That'd be good.

For a long time, the three of them walked about in awkward silence with Rachel switching between admiring the art and admiring Reyna, Reyna not even bothering to look at the art, and Percy wishing they'd just talk already.

His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he read it as quickly as he could.

 _I'm by the toilets_  
\- Annabeth

Oh yeah, he was hoping to ditch these two so he could go on his own date instead of being an awkward third wheel… fuck it, he thought, he was going. Maybe they'd finally start talking with him out of the way.

"Just need the toilet," he said before disappearing off.

He found Annabeth quickly, who was looking beautiful in a long, silver dress with her hair done up. She waved and walked up to him.

"How are they doing?"

He shrugged.

"No idea, so let's just go and enjoy our night."

"Sounds like a plan."

And so they walked off together, planning to have a lovely night together in the art gallery.

Things with Reyna and Rachel were sill awkward and silent. But finally, Rachel decided enough was enough. She was going to talk to the beautiful girl that Percy knew – and never told her about, the ass – and see where things went.

"So… how do you know Percy?"

It was a good a place as any to start, she decided. And it did its job good enough, as Reyna did start talking.

"He was an exchange student at my school and they asked me to look after him."

Rachel did vaguely remember Percy randomly leaving the school for a few months, only to be replaced by some blonde guy. This must be the girl that he dated in that time then, she reasoned, she's probably gay or bi or pan if Percy's history is anything to go by.

"Didn't get into too much trouble, did he?"

"No more than usual from what I've learnt," Reyna replied, "How did you too meet?"

"He tried to stab me when I was blowing my nose."

Reyna looked a little horrified by that, so Rachel quickly backtracked.

"It was a fake sword he bought for his sister in a gift shop. He accidentally whacked me with it when I blew my nose and apparently scared him."

Reyna let a small smile slip onto her face, and Rachel thought it was absolutely breath-taking. Little did she know that Reyna couldn't tear her eyes off Rachel's bright smile either, completely enamored by it. She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt so shy and flustered around a girl – that was a lie, she remembered. It was when Percy had introduced her to Annabeth, but she liked to pretend that it had never happened – but found that she didn't mind too much.

"That's quite a story," Reyna chuckled.

"I have plenty more to tell if you have the time."

Reyna had all the time in the world, but she didn't want to seem too eager, so she shrugged her shoulders and looked away.

"I suppose I do have some time to spare."

Rachel grinned and began recalling every interesting story she could remember, determined to keep Reyna smiling.

By the time the gallery had closed, they were both breathless and grinning, oblivious to the fact that Percy and Annabeth had left literally five hours ago.  
They'd spend hours upon hours talking about everything and nothing, from how the fact that they both were technically Percy's ex was hilarious, to Reyna's love of horse riding and Rachel's love of art. They'd even had a debate on whether Greek mythology was better than Roman mythology, and Rachel was glad to say that she had won that debate.

But now they both out in the cold, no Percy to be seen, and neither of them were ready to go home just ready. Both desperately thought of a reason to try and stay together for longer, and it was Rachel's stomach who came up with the answer.

It suddenly made a loud noise, and Rachel realised that she hadn't eaten in ages.

"Hey, you wanna go grab a McDonalds or something?"

Reyna smiled and nodded.

"Sounds fantastic. The food they had there wouldn't fill up a guinea pig."

"I know, it's like they want you to starve!"

"They probably do so they can steal your money and made you into art."

"…Why did you say that? Now I'm imaging dead bodies trapped in the statues."

"Could've happened, you never know."

Reyna rolled her eyes and tried not to smile. She failed miserably.

"This just makes me thing that you're using your love of art to disguise the fact that you're a serial killer," Reyna joked.

"Ugh, but killing people takes time and effort. I'd rather just let other people do it."

They both laughed, ignoring the people around them who were more than a little disturbed by the strange conversation the two girls were having.  
Eventually, they found a McDonalds and got some food to eat.

"Think we look a bit too posh for this place," Rachel chuckled, "The guy at the desk looked like he wanted to ask if we'd got lost."

Reyna snorted and tried to pretend it was a cough.

"I know that guy, and that was definitely what he was thinking," she said, "He's my friend Nico, and he's never been able to get me to eat here before. I always tell him that he couldn't get me in here even if he bribed me with a million dollars… which he did once."

"I once bribed Percy with 2 million to be a model for my art class. But he said there was no way in hell that he was going to sit still on a stool for an hour, buck naked."

"Understandable. I'm not sure that's how I'd want to spend my weekend either."

Rachel frowned a little.

"You'd be a great model though."

"…Would I?"

Rachel gave a look that simply said 'what the fuck?'

"Have you ever looked in the mirror? You're gorgeous! Of course you'd be a great model!"

Reyna nearly chocked on her food.

"Um, t-thank you."

"…You sure you're not up for sitting on a stool naked for an hour?"

"In front of a bunch of strangers? No thanks," she replied with a snort.

"Who said that you'd be in front of strangers?"

Reyna gave Rachel a long look, trying to work out if Rachel was implying what she thought Rachel was implying.

"…Are you asking me to sit naked on a stool for an hour in your room?"

"Well, bed or stool, I'm not picky."

Reyna gulped deeply, registering that this was not the kind of conversation to be having at god knows what hour in a McDonalds.

"…Bed sounds comfier."

Rachel sent her a downright sexy grin, and Reyna fought back the urge to lean over and kiss her until neither of them could breathe.

"Yay," Rachel cheered, "But I'm not into the whole one night stand thing, so are you up for maybe… doing on a date?"

"Yes," Reyna answered a bit too quickly, "I-I mean sure. Sounds good. We could meet up in Starbucks next week."

"Or Friday?"

"Or Wednesday?"

"Tomorrow?"

Reyna found herself nodded and smiled at Rachel, who was beaming away. They knew they had to go home sometime however, and after exchanging numbers (and a chaste kiss on the cheek from Rachel) they got a taxi and went their separate ways.

Rachel was buzzing, and ready to thank Percy all over again for his brilliant idea. Really, people didn't give him enough credit for how brilliant he was. But Rachel couldn't help but send one text before her phone died on her.

 _Goodnight Reyna xx ;)_  
\- Rachel

 _Goodnight Rachel x_  
\- Reyna

And that was enough to keep her

smiling all night.


End file.
